Shadows of Kamon
by CDrayan
Summary: The final quest begins with Kamon being defrosted some time after Gems of Hoenn. Meanwhile, a Pokémon Hunter is on the hunt for the lab Pokémon formerly owned by Team Rocket.
1. Chapter 1

© 2008 Eric Oakford. Pokémon © 1995-2008 Nintendo/Creatures/Game Freak.

--

_I... am Kamon. I am unlike other people. In fact, I'm more like a cloned Pokémon. The story is a long one, but my life has never been the same again... well, actually, it's never been normal._

_In 2205, my father deserted me, and I was sent to live with the one I thought to be my uncle. I resided in Goldenrod City in Johto ever since. Team Rocket had started to reform and bring my father back to resume command._

_In 2206, they abducted me, and tried to make me their new leader. Seeing that they tried to stop my friends from saving me, I turned my back on them. Team Rocket then invaded Radio Tower to send the signal to my father. As the Elite Four launched their counterattack, the Rockets failed, and disbanded for good. I lived happily ever after... for a year, anyway._

_In 2207, when we moved to Hoenn, Duncan, Crystal, and I traveled the region, hoping to find clues to my father. We had run-ins with Team Magma, and our old foes Tabitha and Courtney. Their leader hypnotized me into awakening Groudon. Lance Envimorph of Kanto, and Steven Stone of Hoenn both assisted me in preventing the impending armageddon by awakening Rayquaza. All of this cumulated into the deaths of the Team Aqua leader, and Steven. I soon disappeared off the radar, and the Team Magma leader revealed a shocking truth to me..._

_His name was Maxie, and he was my true father._

"We froze Kamon in a cyro chamber should he ever become necessary later," said Maxie as he, along with Giovanni and two other men, entered a freezing storage vault.

"Hope he's up to it," said Giovanni. "I don't want to lose him again like after Team Rocket's fall."

Various Pokémon were frozen in blocks of ice, preserved for later use. Some of them, such as Kabutops and Omastar, were extinct.

One of these creatures, however, wasn't a Pokémon at all - it was a boy with long, red hair, and bore an uncanny resemblance to Maxie. He was still wearing his old, tattered clothes from his previous journey in Hoenn.

"Who is this Kamon?" asked one man.

"The ultimate human," announced Maxie.

"I raised him as my son," added Giovanni. "But Team Rocket later got ahold of him in Johto."

"Begin the unfreezing process... now!" ordered Maxie.

The two unknown men used lasers to separate the block of ice with Kamon from the podium it stood on.

A robotic arm lifted the block of ice, transported it to another chamber, filled with some kind of orange fluid, and dropped it into a steel net. The net lowered into the ooze.

As the ice melted, Kamon could feel new life coursing through him, and twitched his thawing fingers. He soon felt the warmth overcome the coldness, almost as if entering a warm shower after being outside on a cold winter day. He soon felt all of his clothes disappear from existence, until he was completely naked. All of his scars except for the "KAMON" branding faded from his body. Even the third-degree burns from stepping into lava had disappeared. Soon after recovering to his senses, he blacked out again.

Kamon was then placed on a stretcher, still comatose and covered in orange slime. A blanket was draped over the lower torso of his body.

Maxie ordered the others, "Take Kamon to be cleaned of the slime. I prepared his awakening for him."

--

_"Kamon..."_

He heard someone call out to him. Kamon was in a trippy underwater chamber, with multi-colored tye-dye light pulsing through the walls. It felt so peaceful, and he enjoyed the crystal-clear water that rejuvenated his body.

_"Kamon, the superhuman..."_

Kamon heard that voice again. He felt that someone was watching him carefully, ensuring that he was safe. This was like a scene in a music video – complete with a calm orchestra.

"_You'll wake up soon. For now, I'll tell you what you need to know. You are a science experiment, a KAMON; KAMON 2600. You were created by me to solve the world's problems and establish peace. I did this by studying Pokémon and discovering their source of power; they have Individual Values determined at birth, and Effort Values that increase as a Pokémon battles. You have these values as well, and are partially a Pokémon yourself!"_

Kamon couldn't believe what he heard. He was part-Pokémon? He tried to deny it, but no voice would come out, as if he had no larynx. The scene around him faded away into blackness.

"_Good morning, Kamon..."_


	2. Chapter 2

Kamon heard the chirping of Pidgey and the flow of water from outside. He awoke, slightly dazed, as if he had been asleep for over a year.

"How was your rest, Kamon?" asked Maxie, with a warm smile on his face. He seemed harmless and gentle; a contrast to his time running Team Magma.

"You... you told me all about my origins. Why was I never informed of this?"

"Answers will come later," said Maxie calmly. "Please relax for today."

After a filling breakfast in bed, Kamon was led into the living room, where he noticed a familiar man staring out a window. "It's good to see you again, Kamon," he said, with the strikingly familiar voice of Giovanni, as he turned around.

"You... what happened... where were you...?" Kamon was too confused to make out anything intelligible. This was the man who led Team Rocket until 2205, when he disbanded it. All this time, him being Kamon's father was a lie, and Maxie was Kamon's true father.

"I think my disappearance from your life for four years changed you somewhat," said Giovanni. "I see that you can talk now." From his looks, one couldn't see that this man commanded an armageddon a few years ago.

Kamon observed the outside world from the window. Leaves became colorful and fell from their trees as the weather grew colder. "What date is it right now?"

"December 13, 2208," answered Giovanni.

"That means I'd been frozen for a year and a half." Who knows what he had been going through during that time.

--

Kamon was led into a chamber of various knick-knacks, many of which he had never seen before. "You're a collector," said Kamon.

"These are artifacts that I found in my journeys through the land," explained Maxie. "For example, look at this." He showed Kamon an unusual Poké Ball, which was gold on the top hemisphere and silver on the bottom. The initials "GS" were engraved on the gold hemisphere. "This is the GS Ball," he started. "I had found it around the Ruins of Alph. Rumor says that if you place it in Ilex Forest's shrine, it will summon the legendary Celebi, which can travel through time."

Kamon then had an idea. "Time-travel... that could be useful for learning more about our past!"

"But I've been afraid to unleash Celebi, since the time-travel could cause major paradoxes that confuse even me."

_Celebi..._ Kamon remembered dreaming about Celebi in the Radio Tower. "I've seen Celebi before."

"You are lucky to have such fortune," said Maxie. "You emit an aura signifying that you are a friend to nature. Only Pokémon can see that aura."

In one cupboard was a silver wing, the one that Kamon wore around his neck! He compulsively opened the cupboard, reached for the metallic feather, then wore it around his neck. "I'd been wondering where this went."

"There you go," smirked Maxie. "Welcome back. I've had a long history of that metal feather," he continued with pride. "Would you like to know more?"

"Yes, Maxie." Kamon couldn't believe it. This was once Maxie's, and he had given it to him as an heirloom.

"It all started one day, as a child, when I vacationed in the Whirl Islands."

"That's between Cianwood and Olivine," said Kamon. He remembered sailing through the ocean at that point.

"One night, I relaxed on the beach, enjoying the moonlight, when I saw a young and mysterious majestic Pokémon flying by. I tried to identify it with my Pokédex, but the information just wasn't there. I then realized that I had discovered an unidentified Pokémon, who was later dubbed Lugia. The name is derived from the Latin word _Lutetium, _a silverish element, and the Italian word _Luna_, or moon."

Kamon then asked, "What happened next? How did this feather come into play?"

"I'll tell you that now," said Maxie. "It seemed to grow a fondness for me, for a reason that I didn't know at the time." Maxie then told Kamon, "It's an aura that I had developed when I was born. My birth took thirteen months."

The average pregnancy takes nine months, and Kamon himself had been gestated for six years. A rush of adrenaline filled his body, as he realized that his power was stronger than Maxie's.

"You never even had a birth mother," remarked Maxie, "since you were in an artificial womb for six years."

Kamon was shocked. Information about his birth was starting to unlock, for reasons beyond him.

"Yes, Kamon, you'll learn everything more on a need to know basis."

"What about the feather?"

"Oh, please forgive me," Maxie slapped himself in the face. "I got a little carried away." He then continued, "Due to my aura, it could detect that I was with nature, and it carried me to its family. I was surprised!"

Kamon was confused. He was told constantly that such legendary Pokémon were not capable of breeding, and were one-of-a-kind. There was also the story that successfully capturing these Pokémon could destroy the balance of nature. It did happen a few years back.

"Contrary to popular belief, Lugia, Ho-Oh, and others _can_ breed, but such method has not yet been discovered." Maxie continued with his story. "I played with the Lugia family, and even saw the nest with Pokémon eggs. The mother had given me a feather that had shedded from her body, and everything else is history."

"This is... that was... I don't believe..." Kamon felt tense. This feather that he had carried during his childhood came from a Lugia, and that super-rare legendary Pokémon were not necessarily one-of-a-kind.

"I can see that you need a break from learning." He then asked, "Would you like to just play some games?"

Video games?! This man was a gamer? "What's available?" Kamon could not believe his ears. Who knew that a project leader – one that created him - had a fun side?

"Didn't expect me to have a fun side, eh?" smirked Maxie. "Nintendo and Sega are my recommendations. Take your pick – around a thousand games are available to play."

Kamon had the funny feeling that this guy was more than Team Magma had let on. This wasn't a faceless, cold boss of a criminal organization (at least, not in the way that Giovanni was), this was a man who had a personal life like any normal sane person.

--

For Duncan and Crystal Caliduct, things had not improved since Kamon found his father. This could have been a happy ending for them, but for some reason, Crystal grew more and more depressed, rambling on about how relationships could end in heartbreak, and that life was unnecessarily complicated. She took it upon herself to check in to a mental hospital soon.

Duncan is now searching the Kanto region for pieces of the Kamon puzzle. Right now, he's at home with Crystal, putting those pieces together.

"Kamon is a human being," said Crystal, who had gotten worse – emo, in fact - since Kamon's leave. "Is there something more to him?"

"He's also something else." Duncan stared out the window. "Who knows? He probably found Giovanni by now." The thought plagued his mind. He had to know exactly what Kamon had been doing these past few years, damn it! "Kamon... he's..." Duncan tried to find an abstract word that would identify Kamon without prejudice. "...unnatural."

"Unnatural?" The man she fell in love with was an artificial creation? "You mean...?"

"Yeah. He's Maxie's clone. Ugh! I just said it." Duncan felt guilty of calling Kamon a clone. Technically, he was, though. "Just... look in that box in my closet," he told Crystal. "I've got some, uh," looking around to make sure that no one was watching, "_paraphernalia_, that you could use to solve your problem."

Crystal went into Duncan's closet, and found a large box. This seemed a little large to hold drugs...

Opening it, she discovered not drugs, but documents and DVDs. "What is all this?"

--

Night soon fell, and Kamon and Maxie were sitting near a fire, which felt comfortable at a cold winter night.

Kamon was surprised to see the various games available to play. Maxie sure was a collector, carrying cult classics such as_ EarthBound_, and even had the hilariously bad laughingstocks, such as those CD-i Zelda games. He had also never realized that _Final Fantasy II _and_ III _for the Super Nintendo were in fact _Final Fantasy_ _IV _and _VI._

"Now, let's get down to business," declared Maxie bluntly. "We didn't tell you because we didn't want Team Rocket to get caught up in the core of this conflict," answered Maxie. "To tell you the truth, I was possessed when I told you to awaken Groudon."

"Who'd possessed you?" asked Kamon.

"I can't say for sure," said Maxie, "but ever since Ultima died a few months after its release from Team Rocket, I've gotten reports of a new Pokémon being created, this time cloned from the DNA of the ancestor of all Pokémon - Mew."

"I can't believe all of this!" shouted Kamon. "There's no way that I'm a clone of you!"

"I'm sure your old friends will also need time to take this in."

_Duncan and Crystal Caliduct..._ Kamon had been wondering what they had been up to. "What are you saying, Maxie?"

"I believe it is time for the Caliduct family to know the truth. Tomorrow, I want you to go to Viridian City. Your old friends have moved there," said Maxie. "Bring them here."

"Does that mean I'll see them again after a year and a half?"

--

"He's... KAMON 2600?!" Crystal shouted in shock.

"Hey, quiet!"

"I'm sorry," apologized Crystal. "I'm just in shock. At least I know more about him now." She wasn't sure it was a good idea to know, however. Perhaps it was best that this mystery remained unsolved.

_BUZZ._

"Wonder who that could be." Crystal trudged over to the front door, and opened it, only to find... "_KAMON!! You're back!"_

"After almost two years, it's no wonder you're crying with tears of joy," he remarked as they hugged tightly. To him, it seemed he was only gone for a short time, despite their long wait. "I need you to come to Viridian Forest with me."


	3. Chapter 3

Kamon directed Duncan and Crystal into that house in Viridian Forest. "Here's our hideout," he announced. It was his home, ever since he was a child. Kamon took a breath of air to absorb the nostalgia.

Crystal shakily opened the door. "He- hello?"

"There's nothing to fear," assured Kamon. "These people won't harm you."

Kamon walked off into another room. Duncan observed the various artifacts on a shelf mounted to the wall. One of them was the legendary GS Ball.

"Wow... it exists," he said in awe.

Crystal saw a picture of Kamon on the wall. It seemed to be old and torn; this couldn't be him, unless that happened to be Maxie. For some reason, it made her flush with sadness and sympathy. It must have had been really tough for the father and son pair to have reunited.

"Hello there," said a man. Crystal yelped in surprise. "Are you Maxie?"

"Guilty as charged," he joked. "You must be Duncan and Crystal Caliduct."

"Uh, yeah," said Duncan, surprised. "What was Kamon doing during the past year and a half?"

"Come with me, and I'll tell you all about it." He was well-prepared to explain, but hoped that they wouldn't look at Kamon differently after that. This could psychologically damage Crystal even further! But they needed to know the truth.

--

In the peaceful Pallet Town, Kevin "Blue" Oak headed outside and pulled out the mail from the mailbox. "Just isn't the same as when those Pokémon were in the mail," he mused to himself. At least they were in a safe place, locked so that only administrators could withdraw them. As he headed back inside, he checked the mail, checking if there was anything for him. There was a letter in a manila envelope to him from the Pokémon League. Opening it, he read, on professional résumé paper:

_Dear Kevin,_

_ This letter is to inform you that the Viridian Gym Leader position that you applied for is now yours. Congratulations! It is such an honor to become one of these powerful eight trainers. You now work 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday._

"Awesome! I'm a Gym Leader now!" Kevin exclaimed in delight. Also in the mail was a letter to Daisy, which he left on the nightstand. "Probably a love letter from that Bill guy."

He then started to wonder what his former neighbors were up to these days. Karl "Red" and Hadley "Green" Caliduct had moved with their mother to Indigo Plateau, after their parents divorced. Guess their mother liked Koga better.

And what became of their Pokémon? Could they possibly have been tested for research at some lab? That seemed a bit hypocritical, considering that the goal was to _stop_ the creation of genetically-engineered Pokémon!

--

Karl and Janine played _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_ in Karl's bedroom. "Hey, Red, I can't _believe_ you sold yourself out to Nintendo to put yourself in their game," said Janine.

"At least they gave me a lot of money for it," answered Karl. "Now, watch as I finish this match with Triple Finish!"

_"Take this! Triple Finish!"_

Janine, who was playing Marth, jumped out of the way. "Ha! You just wasted that Smash Ball."

_"Five... four... three... two... one... Time!"_

_"Sudden Death! Go!"_

_Marth slashed Charizard out of the arena._

_"Game! And the winner is: Marth!"_

Karl dropped his controller. "I can't believe this... I'd been playing for a few years, and you still beat me."

Karl sighed. He headed to his bedroom and crashed onto his bed. He thought about the events that occurred a few years back.

_I first battled Team Rocket at age twelve. They had captured Professor Oak's granddaughter, Daisy. With my sister Hadley "Green" Caliduct and neighbor Kevin "Blue" Oak, we reached Team Rocket's hideout in Celadon City's Rocket Game Corner. It was there that we saved Daisy from her imprisonment._

_Soon, we were drawn into a secret plot. Team Rocket was contracting another company to create superpower Pokémon, including one that could allow them to control the world's climate! The effects of removing the legendary birds from their habitats really showed themselves, as Fuchsia City froze over, the Seafoam Islands became warmer, and volcanoes erupted unexpectedly._

_We had found out that our Pokémon – a Charmander, a Squirtle, and a Bulbasaur – were a few of the super Pokémon themselves. Together, we foiled a future apocalypse at Pewter Canyon._

The sole surviving lab Pokémon are now in captivity at the Pokémon League Development Center in Indigo Plateau. Kanto is at peace, at least for the time being, and Karl partially returned to being his old self – still somewhat a lazy teenager, but one in training under his stepfather.

Meanwhile, in the next room, Hadley checked her e-mail on her computer. There was a message from Kevin.

_Hey, Green! I did it! I'm the Viridian City Gym Leader now. Way cool, huh? I was thinking maybe you could be my door-girl or assistant. How about it? I'll pay you for it._

Hadley smiled upon receiving this letter. She replied to Kevin, saying:

_Sure, Blue. I'll be your door-girl, when Red and I get back to my dad's house on Monday. I'll try to convince my mom to let me stay there. See you then!_

Hadley knew that Koga would be an essential influence for moving back to Pallet Town, since, after all, at least she could say she was employed.

--

Maxie had taken a long time of relating to Duncan and Crystal the story of Kamon – telling about how he was genetically engineered, his true identity and purpose, how his workers had betrayed and almost killed him, and how they had contracted with Team Rocket to create powerful Pokémon clones.

"That last part just about sums up the events from a few years ago!" exclaimed Duncan. "Our cousins intercepted those Pokémon."

"That was where your family came in," said Giovanni. "I had actually met Karl Caliduct that night."

Maxie deadpanned, "We're approaching the end of a long conflict." The Caliduct family had come in, and they destroyed Team Rocket, bringing a blow to Nixyzon. The conflict, however, was not over just yet.

Crystal just stared at Kamon. He wasn't... natural. There was so much more to him, and her family had been dragged into the whole conflict.

"I think Crystal's in a state of shock," said Kamon worriedly to Giovanni.

"Don't worry, Ms. Caliduct," assured Giovanni. "I'm sure you'll get used to it. But I warn you; you must not tell anybody about what you heard today, even your relatives."

Crystal said nothing.

"They'd think we're nuts anyway," said Duncan. "And I think Crystal is too shocked to say anything more."

"I think a therapy lesson with me should help," offered Maxie. Crystal had to accept that Kamon was back; hopefully, he would set her straight again. No, he _certainly_ could.

--

Karl and Hadley had returned to Pallet Town. Hadley, her father, and Koga had come to an agreement that Hadley could stay as long as she could support herself. Smirking, she knew there was no way Karl could do that.

Kevin hugged Hadley. "I'm so happy to see you again, Green," he said to her.

"When do we start?" she asked.

"We'll start on Monday after school. Meet me at the Gym."

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Red in jealousy. "You're working now?" He wanted in on what Hadley was given. After all, he was in the team too!

"Look, Red," said Hadley, "We've been through adventures together, but we've gotta spend some time together, just Blue and me. You know what, we should just call each other by our real names now, Karl."

"Hadley's right," said Kevin. "I gotta save my money for long-term expenses like college."

"Sure, Hadley and Kevin. Whatever." This Color Triad thing was getting kind of old anyway. He had more pressing matters at hand, such as school. "Maybe you've got a point," he continued bluntly.


	4. I'm Gonna Git You Karl

_There's another story I should tell you about, but I don't think it was ever really told; a year ago, we went on vacation in the tropical Sevii Islands. I was sent by island locals to find two gemstones scattered throughout the Archipelago. These would be used in a machine that would link computer networks throughout the world, providing abundant bandwidth, or so they say. I don't know much about computers to understand._

_The first, a ruby, was located in Mt. Ember. Easy enough, if you didn't count the intense heat and lava Pokémon. However, the second one, a sapphire, was one I had to go though a lot of trouble to get ahold of._

_That trouble came in the form of a Pokémon Hunter, known only as the initial J. She traced me to Fortune Island's Dotted Hole, and beat me to the sapphire! It was up to me and my friends to steal the sapphire back. We succeeded, though J swore her revenge on me. At least she's in prison now._

--

Kevin slouched in his office chair. It had been two days since he had gotten the position, and there was little to no action going on. Nobody wanted to duel against Kevin, and there wasn't much to do. Hadley, mop in hand, cleaned the already-clean floor. "Yeah, Kev, I know it's already clean," she told Kevin, "but I'm kind of bored."

"One good thing I gotta say is, we're getting paid to sit on our asses," he replied. "They apparently don't realize that this is best done in the summer, you know, when the kids are like, out of school?!"

"Well, whatever. Tomorrow, we'll bring the Wii over here. That'll keep us occupied."

"Hey, don't take it out of our house!" shouted Karl as he ran into the office.

"You'll still be able to play it here," assured Hadley.

"Okay, but I don't want that Pokémon Hunter J to steal it!"

"J's in jail, you idiot!" exclaimed Kevin. "Besides, why would a Pokémon Hunter steal a game console?"

This scared Karl. For no explicable reason, he had just inadvertently blurted out Hunter J's name - or what was known of it anyway. "No... I don't wanna remember any of what happened in Sevii. J swore revenge, and I'm a goner if she follows through with that threat!"

"Karl, I don't think she was serious about it," said Hadley. "You were just a small nuisance."

"Fine then," said Karl breathily. "I'll just get the old Super Nintendo. It's in the basement."

"I'll get my TV," added Kevin. "I think I still have my Sega Genesis packed away as well." Oh, the nostalgic feelings...

--

"Maxie," Crystal said to him. "I now know that Kamon is your son." With intensive psychological treatment, she had become sane enough to speak again. She also accepted her loved one's true identity. "Should we break this to others?"

"No," said Maxie. "It may cause an uproar. Haven't you seen E.T.?"

"Oh, yeah," reminisced Crystal. "The kids had to keep E.T. a secret and away from the authorities." She also knew that Kamon was like an extraterrestrial, and that they may eventually have to go their separate ways again. "If I never see him again when we go our separate ways, I know that we'll always remember each other."

--

Later, that night, Karl searched in the basement. After opening various boxes, he found one that contained a yellowed machine, with purple switches with "Power" and "Reset" emblazoned on them, and a grey eject button between the switches. Also in the box were many grey cartridges, an AC adapter with a bulky box plug, and an RF switch.

Hadley turned on the TV.

"...and the Munchlax will never swim again. In other news, a notorious bounty hunter," said a news anchor, "has escaped from prison earlier this week."

"Uh, Karl?" asked Hadley. "I think you should see this."

Karl walked out of the back room, with the box in hand. "What is it?"

"Your worst nightmare!" Hadley pointed to the TV, which now had an image of a Wanted poster on it. The subject was none other than Pokémon Hunter J.

"Oh, no- she'll take her anger out on me soon enough..." Fearing for his life Karl fainted in shock.

"Well, I think you're gonna have to hide behind Koga," she said.

--

Kevin was asleep in his bed. If he was just going to stare out the window, it probably wouldn't have hurt to just stay home. In any case, he had his TV ready to be taken to the gym.

Meanwhile, hidden in the darkness of the woods surrounding Pallet Town was a mysterious woman. A woman on a mission – not to steal Pokémon, but to kidnap Professor Oak's grandchildren. Her client said that they were to be used as hostages to obtain the Pokémon that came from Team Rocket's laboratory. And personal issues, as well.

The woman, wearing night-vision visors, walked toward the house. Lock pick in hand, she worked to pick the lock on the door. To her surprise, the lock was of a simple type. Obviously, Professor Oak didn't see the need to have any special security, unlike for his lab. Upon undoing the lock, she stealthily sneaked into the house, up the stairs, and into Kevin's room.

Kevin rested comfortably, unaware that an intruder was entering the room. He could, however, hear clattering of things. Dazed and sleepy, he headed to the light switch to investigate. What he didn't expect, however, was to be grabbed forcefully. "What the-" He was pushed to the floor.

"Shh... just be quiet," furiously whispered a woman, who had captured him. Kevin struggled to pull himself back up, but he felt a knee holding him down. He felt his hands being pinned together behind his back, with rope being wrapped around his wrists. He was then lifted onto his feet. "Come with me," the intruder ordered.

"No way!" He elbowed the intruder, and the light switch. What he didn't realize until turning on the lights, however, was a that he was being held hostage by a dangerous bounty hunter. "Hunter J! Aah!" Kevin ran out of his room, trying to get his hands loose. Running down the stairs, he attempted to open the front door. "Damn it! Open up!" He frantically turned the doorknob, which was difficult due to his wrists being tied together. J ran down the stairs, and Kevin managed to get the door open.

"Give it up," said J, with a stun gun ready.

"Hell no!" Kevin ran out into the street, but fell face-first into the ground. He felt an electric shock coursing through his body, and later was lifted up by a Salamence. "Help..." he groaned as he was carried away into the forest and to an air base.

--

Daisy Oak put on her coat, then closed and locked the Trainer's Den entrance. What a party! After all of that and cleaning up the mess, she was glad to return home and get a good night's sleep. She entered her car and started it, turning on the lights.


	5. Okay, I Won't Get You Now

Daisy Oak entered her car and started it, turning on the lights... to discover a mysterious woman watching her! She moved the gearshift to reverse, then stepped on the accelerator, driving back to Pallet Town.

A large dragon Pokémon, which carried the stalker, chased Daisy and stomped on the car roof. Daisy felt the shock of the roof, which was about to collapse, and swerved around, crashing into a tree.

Daisy was saved from death by her seatbelt and the deployment of the airbag. "No wonder cops give fines for not buckling up..." She unfastened her seatbelt, grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment, and left the car, walking back to Pallet Town. At midnight in December, it was cold and scary for her. At least she had her Pokémon on her person.

A shadow toward her as she ran. "Hello? I hope not, but is somebody there?" She pointed her flashlight around until she saw the dragon! "What- what is that Pokémon?"

She referred to the Pokédex, which said, "Salamence, a dragon Pokémon, number 373. Its cellular structure changed as the result of its lifelong dream to fly, It has a high Attack stat, so approach with extreme caution."

"Ice beats Dragon. This should be easy to beat. Go, Delibird and Blissey!" She called out those Pokémon.

"Go ahead, try to beat me," said a woman wearing infrared glasses.

"You're stalking me! Well, I'm not going to go for this. We'll fight!"

The woman used a machine attached to her right arm and fired at Delibird and Blissey, freezing them in bronze.

"What the f- Hunter J? How'd you do that?!" Daisy was surprised. "I lost immediately! No fair!"

"All's fair in love and war. Now come quietly," said Pokémon Hunter J, "or I'll have to take you by force."

"NO!" Daisy ran into the woods. Without her Pokémon, she could only hope to escape.

Her coat soon got caught in thorns. J reached Daisy, and grabbed her by the collar. Daisy whacked her in the head with her purse, stunning the Pokémon hunter, and tearing off a large piece of Daisy's coat in the process. Daisy discarded the remnants of her coat, and ran back to Pallet Town.

Finally, she reached home, and saw her grandfather in the living room. "Grandpa! You're not gonna believe it! There's a woman after me!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Just calm down," said Professor Oak. "Be cool, be calm, be collected."

"I'm not joking, there's really a stalker chasing me," said Daisy, after calming down. "You've gotta wake Blue..."

"Just get to bed, and we can talk this over maturely tomorrow," assured Oak.

"Okay." Daisy headed into her bedroom, and opened the mail she had received that afternoon. It was a letter from Bill!

_Hello, Daisy,_

_Have you ever heard of a computer virus called "Missingno"? I've gotten complaints from some trainers that their records have become corrupted, and praises from others that some of their equipment has been duplicated massively. If you get an email with an executable, don't run it, and don't forward it to others! Remember, viruses can only infect by your running of an application. We're trying to find out who created it, so be assured that we'll do the best we can to stop this digital massacre._

"Missingno? I should warn Blue." She headed into Kevin's room, to find him missing! "Where is he?" Did J kidnap him? It appeared so, as Sega Genesis cartridges were toppled over to the floor.

Daisy headed back into her own room, went on her computer, and wrote an email stating:

_Help! Blue's been kidnapped, probably along with me, too, as you're reading this. That Pokémon Hunter stole my Pokémon with her petrify gun, and may have gotten me by the time you get this. God knows why a Pokémon Hunter wants to kidnap people._

She sent it to Bill, and forwarded it to Karl and Hadley, in the hope that they would save her and her brother. She logged off, then shut down the computer.

Daisy breathed heavily as she slouched onto her bed. A shadow came toward her, ready to strike. Wide-eyed, she rolled off of her bed and attempted to run out of the room.

A rag soaked with chloroform was pressed over her mouth. Daisy fought to stay awake, in the hope that she could escape from J.

"You'd better stop now," threatened J, "or you'll get yourself hurt more."

That was all Daisy could hear before passing out.

----

Karl woke up to hear a shattering sound, along with the force of something as hard as rock landing onto his head.

"Ow-ow-ow!" screamed Karl. Upon flipping the light switch, he found that the window had been destroyed, and the floor was now littered with glass shards. A shadow had begun to fly away into the darkness. "That bastard's getting the bill..." he said angrily.

"Karl?" asked his father. "What's going on in there?"

There was a brick on the side of the bed. A note was attached to it with a rubber band. "Okay, here goes..." He dropped the brick in fright, as he learned who the vandal was. It landed on one of his feet, but Karl was too shocked to feel the resulting pain. "Da-Dad!"

"What is it?" Mr. Caliduct asked him. Karl showed him the letter. "This is a letter?"

Hadley walked into the room. She examined Karl, and saw the scar on his forehead. "Ow, that's gotta hurt."

The letter read:

_Karl "Red" Caliduct,_

_As you may have heard on the news (or not), I have escaped from prison. I know I said I would take revenge on you after the fiasco at the Sevii Islands. However, during my prison time, I have learned that mere revenge solves nothing._

_Thus, I'll let you continue with your life as usual. However, I give you your only warning: Never mess with me again! Any further attempts to stop me, and you'd better be lucky enough to have life insurance. Pass this on to your sister and parents, too, and they'll get the message. I'm warning you!_

_-J_

"Oh my God." Mr. Caliduct couldn't believe it. He feared for the life of his son, who now had a new enemy, and not of the school bully kind. Rather, of the wanted criminal kind. "First, Team Rocket, and now Pokémon Hunter J!"

"I don't wanna live here anymore," Karl said in fear. "Koga's safer."


	6. Caliduct's Revenge

"Daisy? You all right?"

Daisy awakened to find herself in a storage room, lying on the floor. "Hmm? Mm-hmm."

Kevin, pushing the duct tape away from his mouth, continued, "I guess J wants those lab Pokémon, huh?"

"Hmmph?" answered Daisy. She tried to get up, but her legs were tied together and her wrists behind her back. Oh, no, not this again! She tried to yell out, but couldn't, as she was gagged with a cloth tied tightly over her mouth.

Looking out the window, they could see that the sun had started to rise.

----

Tabitha Ventosia snoozed on his futon. What a day yesterday! He had finished his final essay for his Composition class. Courtney Ramalio was nowhere to be found. Who knows what she was up to these days.

From what he could tell, Courtney had left to Saffron City, saying that she wanted to pursue other interests, following her late mother's footsteps. What Courtney's mother did was beyond Tabitha.

Anyway, he had made his uncle happy. Tabitha was getting a formal education in college, and was able to pay for it with little difficulty. That made him wonder – who gave away the money? Kamon? The thousands of dollars he won through gambling couldn't possibly cover the whole four years. His old Team Magma boss? That seemed more probable.

The holidays were around the corner, and he was ready to head home to Vermilion City for that time. The semester was now over.

----

Karl sighed in dejection. Kevin and Daisy were missing, and J had warned him last night not to interfere.

"Now, Karl," assured Koga, with a hand on Karl's shoulder, "we can't let past confrontations get in your way."

"But J might have taken Kevin and Daisy!" After Team Rocket had disbanded, he had figured that there was no more to worry about. With his friends being held captive, and his being threatened by their captor though, he couldn't decide what to do.

"I could see where you're going, Karl," continued Koga, "and I think you're right. _You_ shouldn't do this alone."

"I'm not doing it, period," Karl said sternly. "I want no part of this."

Hadley had listened in. She couldn't believe what her brother had just said. "Maybe he doesn't want any part, but I do." She was worried about Kevin and Daisy (especially Kevin). If J did anything to Kevin, she... she would... she would have no idea how to react. These thoughts haunted her. "If Karl doesn't want to help... I'll just do this myself, then!" She barged in, and proudly declared to Koga, "I'm going to stop Hunter J and save Kevin and Daisy!"

"Yeah, you go ahead." Karl wished his sister luck, and hoped that she would return safely.

An alarm blared throughout the facility. "What the hell is going on?!" shouted Karl, whose heart jumped.

"The research facility is under attack!" shouted a technician. "We need to put our experiments under lockdown!"

"I'm gonna find out who's trying to come after those Pokémon..." Karl said. He pulled on his old hat, and turned it backwards. "Wish me luck."

----

Karl exited the express elevator leading to the Pokémon Research and Development Center, or PRD for short. He estimated that he was three floors below ground.

Karl ran through the corridors, which were illuminated by blue light. He heard screams and shouting.

"Oh, my God! It's coming after us! Uggggghhhhh!!! Help! It's got me in its grasp!" were the cries of pain. Electric sparks exploded throughout the corridors. The lights had repeatedly dimmed. Karl shakily stepped further, the door automatically whooshing open for him.

"Good God!" shouted Karl, as his vision locked onto a massacre. A foreign Pokémon had flown into another room, leaving behind the carnage. The now-empty glass pens of the Pokémon had been shattered, with the exception of one - which appeared to have already been looted before. He ran into the adjacent room where the runaway Pokémon entered.

There, he had found his old Pokémon friends. Blowtorch - now renamed to Plasma - his Charmeleon, Flora the Ivysaur, and Koopa the Wartortle were all trapped in jars, crying for help from their one of their old masters. "You're okay!" He then remembered the previous room's carnage. "You obviously couldn't have killed those scientists," he told them. They shook their heads. "Then... who did?"

A shadow crept up from behind Karl. A claw swooped down and lifted him into the air! "Oh, no!"

"Surprise!" shouted Pokémon Hunter J. "Well, you failed to heed my warning, so now I carry out your punishment!"

Karl couldn't pull himself out of Drapion's increasingly tightening clutches, nor could he use his Pokémon to fight. He was so dead! So dead... his spine started to crunch, and he lost all sense in his legs.

A red-haired young man emerged from the shadows. "You're not gonna kill him without a fight from me!" He was dressed in a dark coat and purple pants.

Kamon had managed to sneak into the massacre and recover Axel, his Persian, as well as Maxie's Sneasel. He proceeded to jump-kick Drapion in the eye, causing it to drop Karl.

"You son of a... Ariados, trap him!" The large arachnid shot sticky string at Kamon, tying him to a pole.

Karl breathed in pain as he tried to pull himself up. "I can't feel my feet..."

"Self-destruct mechanism is engaged! Five minutes until detonation!" shouted the P.A.

"Well, I've got work to do. See you in hell." J ran off, blasting a hole in the ceiling and making her getaway.

Kamon pulled out a pocket knife, and cut himself loose. He then lifted Karl to his feet, and dragged him out of the lab and into the elevator.

----

"Sir, we've got most of the lab Pokémon, but some troublemaker is in on us," J told her client via video screen. Karl wasn't the only problem now. Someone else was in her way now.

The client was obscured in shadows. "Send me a picture of that person."

J transferred a picture of Kamon that she had taken with her visors. "This man has gotten to some of the lab Pokémon first."

The client then said, "Ah... I know this person... Kamon. The child of Banrun. How would you like to double your price for this young man, who is part Pokémon?"

"Consider it done," J replied.


	7. Bounty on Kamon's Head

Kevin had pulled himself free from his bonds with the help of a rusty pipe on the wall.

"All right, Daisy, we're getting out of here," he told her as he took her gag off.

Meanwhile, at her personal quarters, Hunter J was trying to cross-reference any acquaintances of Kamon. She figured that they would work as bait for him, to draw him out and capture him. Her only lead was a few Team Rocket records that were restored.

Back in 2206, Kamon was abducted by Team Rocket, believing him to be their former leader's son. Nearly all records, including the interim leaders' records were destroyed shortly after.

The only remaining information was that of a man named Tabitha Harlan Ventosia. J thought, who the hell gives their son a female name? And she couldn't find his address anywhere, since he was a relative of Gym Leader Lt. Surge, whose address was unlisted. All she knew was that he was from Vermilion City, and that his e-mail address was .

"Time to send him an Instant Message..."

----

The red-haired stranger dragged Karl to safety upon removing him from the elevator.

Karl could feel himself healing as he regained sense at his legs. He shivered as his lower torso tingled all over. "Who... are you?" he asked.

The stranger said nothing.

"That's all right," Karl said. "I'd rather not know anyway."

The stranger's hidden earpiece rang.

"Kamon! Get back to the forest with those Pokémon!" Giovanni ordered.

Kamon escaped from the halls and headed outside, a getaway car waiting for him. "I got what I could, but some Pokémon Hunter almost got the jump on me!" he lamented to Giovanni.

"Did anyone find out who you are?" he asked.

"Well, I did have to save that Karl Caliduct kid from that hunter..."

"You idiot!" shouted Giovanni. "Pokémon Hunter J knows what you look like now!"

Kamon sighed. If Hunter J was on a mission to capture him, he would have to lay low for a while.

He then wondered - what had come of Tabitha and Courtney? Had they returned home now? He was anxious to meet them again and apologize for the previous confrontation long ago.

----

Tabitha drove in his Corvette through the highway. He was getting near Vermilion City.

He had always heard the news about a Pokémon Hunter known as J. He felt sorry for those who lost their Pokémon to J, and was glad that he didn't have any to steal. Hopefully, J would be brought to justice. He then remembered something - J had escaped from prison. That was a small problem, but it was, he thought, out of his control.

Pulling into the driveway, he entered his house.

"Hey, I'm home!" he declared, expecting his uncle, Lt. Surge, to respond. There was no response. "I guess he's at the Gym."

He reached into the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of RC Cola, headed into his room, and turned on his computer.

Starting up, he decided to go online. When he connected, however, he received an Instant Message:

JHunterIsCool: hey whats up?

He entered:

TVentosia: Who are you?

What he didn't know, however, was that Hunter J was on the other line. She entered:

JHunterIsCool: a/s/l?

TVentosia: But I don't even know you! How do I know you're not some kind of murderer or burglar?

JHunterIsCool: i was in Team Rocket w/ you...

TVentosia: I never speak of my experience at Team Rocket, but I guess I'll tell you my address. It's 7345 Magikarp Street.

Another person joined in.

MxmlnKmn: Tabitha? Is that you?

"Who's stalking me?!" he shouted nervously.

MxmlnKmn: It's Kamon...

TVentosia: Kamon? It's been so long...

MxmlnKmn: Who are you talking to?

JHunterIsCool has left.

TVentosia: I don't know, some stranger I guess. Where are you?

MxmlnKmn: Meet me at the dock at 10:30 PM.

Hunter J had gotten Tabitha's address! Now she was off to Vermilion City.

----

Kevin and Daisy sneaked through the base, having knocked out the guard at the door to their holding room.

"Okay, now what do we do?" asked Kevin.

"First, we find those Pokémon," answered Daisy. They had to be around somewhere, possibly being catalogued for auctioning off. "Then, we find a way out of here." She hoped that they would land somewhere, and that they could get to a place of safety after escape.

Meanwhile, just outside Vermilion City, J had exited the base and was on hot pursuit for Tabitha, knowing his address well.

----

Maxie lectured Kamon, telling him, "You just leaked your identity to Hunter J! I've got intel that you've got a price on your head."

Kamon had started to grow stressful, causing the surrounding area to shake. "J doesn't know where I am."

"But Duncan and Crystal do," said Maxie. "and J will certainly try to draw you out by putting them in danger."

"I need to hide them."

----

Tabitha sat on the porch, fearful that he would be attacked by Hunter J. His fears came true, as she dashed toward him on a Salamence! Tabitha ran into the house, locking and bolting both the front and back doors. "There's no way she'll get in now..." J pounded on the front door. "Go away!" He heard the lock being picked, and frantically hid in his bedroom.

The front door opened as he lay in his bed. He then realized what he was doing. "This is ridiculous," he said to himself. "I can't be a wimp, hiding out in my bed. I've got to face my fears."

He sneaked out of his room... to run into J! "Hello, there, Mr. Ventosia..." Tabitha stumbled to the floor in surprise. An Ariados shot sticky web out of its mouth, tying up Tabitha.

"You friggin trickster..." Tabitha griped.


	8. Oak's Daring Escape

Kevin and Daisy, after leaving their holding room, crawled through the air vents. Kevin felt cool that he was going through air vents, and the breeze blew through his hair. Upon reaching another grate leading to a hall, he wondered what he would have to do next. If he tried to push down the grate, the guards would hear that. Of course, he would have to take his chances...

Carefully removing the grate from the hole, he slowly placed it onto the floor. Crawling out, he moved the grate aside as he pulled Daisy out as well. "Okay, let's try to find our Pokémon and get out of here."

Searching around the base, which was somewhat larger than they thought, Kevin and Daisy searched around for any room that could possibly contain the captured Pokémon. Eventually, they came across a room with trophies of Pokémon.

"Wait a minute," said Kevin inquisitively. "Those aren't trophies, they're the captured Pokémon!"

"Let's get them out of here."

Kevin searched around for any mechanism that could reverse the freezing process. A dial on the bottom of the jar was all the way up. Pulling the dial down, the Chansey was free from confinement. "All right! Let's free all of these others..." Kevin proceeded.

"Not so fast!" shouted a henchman.

"Let me handle this..." Daisy readied herself for combat. "We'll talk this over, with our fists!"

----

Tabitha was picked up by Hunter J.

"Where is Kamon?" she demanded.

"How would I know?" he asked. "He just came up on chat. I haven't seen him in over a year!"

"Well, I think he'll come right over here soon," J replied.

"If my uncle gets back first, then you're screwed." Tabitha knew that J was no match for Lt. Surge. The situation was very stressful for him, and his only hope was that someone else would hear his cries for help. In reality, Surge would not be back until tomorrow, making his threat empty at best. And in the holidays, of all times! He'd thought his troubles with Team Rocket, Team Magma, and Team anything were over, but now he's being held hostage by a Pokémon bounty hunter who wants to capture his old friend. Where was Courtney, when he needed her?

J placed his tied-up body on the living room couch. "Just you wait here for Kamon to arrive."

----

Daisy and Kevin successfully made it out of Hunter J's base and dashed stealthily into the woods. "That wasn't so hard," said Kevin, "was it? Shame we couldn't get all of the Pokémon..."

"Those guys were morons," said Daisy. "My fists dealt with them rather well. Although, we did have to leave in a hurry."

"One problem though: Why didn't you defend yourself against Hunter J?" demanded Kevin. "Why'd you just helplessly let yourself get captured?"

"Because she could have frozen me!" snapped Daisy. "A good fighter knows when to fight and when to run away."

Meanwhile, Karl and Hadley searched around the area just off Vermilion City.

Karl asked, "Do you think that Kamon guy is related to the lab experiments back then?"

"I can't really say for sure, since we don't know what Hunter J is trying to do, or even why she captured Kevin and Daisy."

"Hey, you two!" shouted out Kevin. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, we're right here," shouted back Karl. "How'd you get free?"

Kevin and Daisy looked at each other for a second. "Well, let's just say that we were able to get Daisy's Pokémon back," Kevin remarked. "But unfortunately, we couldn't get the others since we were in a hurry to escape."

"Well," sighed Hadley. "We're going to have to be stealthy about this mission."

"Ninja stealth..." Karl decided, "We can get help from Koga and Janine! It'll be like _Metal Gear Solid_."

----

Kamon finally reached Tabitha's house. From inside, Tabitha could see him through the window. He yelled, "Don't go in-" before J kicked him in the groin and he groaned in pain. Before knocking on the door, he could hear a scuffle occurring inside.

In desperation, Tabitha exasperated, "Why don't you just ask his friends Duncan and Crystal Caliduct? They live in Viridian City."

Caliduct... that name rang in J's mind. Could Duncan and Crystal possibly be related to Karl?

"Look, Kamon's here now, so why don't you just get the hell out of here?" he continued. "Leave me alone!"

J dropped him to the floor. "Sure, I suppose so. Don't worry, your uncle will get you free eventually," she said as she ran out the door.

Tabitha sighed. Surge wouldn't return until tomorrow. By then, it would probably be too late to warn Duncan and Crystal.

But wait! He could try to free himself. He slithered like a Caterpie into the kitchen. Partially opening a bottom cupboard, he rubbed the web bonds against the edge. This was hardly working, though he could now get onto his feet. Carefully trying not to fall back down, he scrambled his way up. Now that he was standing, he pulled open the utensil drawer, and grabbed a knife. He proceeded to saw through the web, eventually pulling himself loose.

Tabitha ran out of the house, pulling the sticky web residue from his body and dashing down the road. "I've got to warn Duncan and Crystal," he said to himself. "Hunter J's gonna get them!"

After a while of running, a limousine had caught his eye. It seemed to be following him, so he just stood still and verify so. The limo pulled up next to him, with a man exiting, opening the door for him. "We've been requested to bring you over to an old friend of yours," the man told Tabitha.

"Hold on just a minute," Tabitha snapped. "How do I know you're not really underlings of Pokémon Hunter J," he continued, "whom I've just _escaped_ from and is probably chasing me, thank you very much?"

"We're enemies of J," said the man, "but we'll explain more later on."

Tabitha decided that this seemed sincere, considering that he had no idea what was going on, and there was no reason to suspect this person. "Okay, let's go then." He entered the backseat of the limo, and the door shut. "Hope this is a bulletproof limo," he mused to himself. Trying to get adjusted, he seemed to be partially glued to the leather seat, probably from the residue of the Ariados' bonds.


	9. Infiltration

Early morning, Maxie called Duncan and Crystal over to his office.

"Duncan, Crystal," he said to them. "It appears that Kamon has a bounty on his head."

"What do you mean?" asked Crystal worriedly.

"A notorious bounty hunter has been hired by an unknown entity, maybe Nixyzon, to capture Kamon."

"Why do you think they want to do this?" asked Duncan inquisitively.

"I've gotten tips from Giovanni that Nixyzon has devised a new Pokémon experiment, based on the Pokémon legend Mew, a clone called Mewtwo," Maxie elaborated. "Apparently, Ultima was more of a beta experiment, which would explain why it died four months later."

Duncan began to understand what they were up against now. The test was to fuse the DNA of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, which horribly backfired and mutated the clone to death. This retry was to simplify the DNA mutation, to the point that Mewtwo could possibly be immortal.

"This is heavy," withdrew Crystal.

"Weight has nothing to do with this," smirked Maxie. "Duncan, I want you to head to Pewter Canyon, to the old Rocket Fortress, where I hope that more information is available."

"Where the first battle started? Well, I'd better get prepared for the journey." He started by synchronizing his Pokétch.

"Here is the com-link app." Maxie handed Duncan a small memory card labeled "COM-LINK". "Just be careful, scavengers have been known to grab what they can there."

----

Karl, Hadley, Kevin, and Daisy had made it back to Pallet Town.

Koga had heard about Kevin and Daisy's escape and reunion with Karl and Hadley, how Hunter J had stolen the lab Pokémon, and how they could not all be rescued. "I see what you mean. A full front battle would not be effective; we will need to be stealthy here."

Janine then said, "Karl, codename Red, you and I head into the base. Hadley, codename Green, you take control of Karl's surveillance."

"We'll stay here and deal with the faker," said Kevin, in reference to the Imposter Professor Oak.

Karl rubbed his fuzzy stubble, and decided, "Well, it's time to teach Hunter J a lesson." He put on a wireless headset, with a hidden camera on the sunglasses. Now he was a cool dude.

"I'll maintain command HQ at the lab," said Hadley. "I can see what you see, so if any danger comes, find a place to hide!" This mission would start tonight, so as to not raise any civilian suspicion.

----

Bundled up in a coat, Duncan trudged through Pewter Canyon. Four years ago, it became a wasteland, but now it was a calm, peaceful canyon with plant life and Pokémon like Sandshrew and Diglett. Due to it being winter, however, they had all been safely hiberating, and snow was scatteringly landing on the ground.

He was searching for the old canyon base, which Maxie said contained the plans to Mewtwo.

Duncan found a building in the horizon. But it was separated from him by a chasm. There was no bridge to cross, and if there were any platforms to jump, they were no longer there.

Something caught his eye, however. Posts levitated at one point. "How the hell do they just float over the chasm?"

He kneeled down and felt the area between the posts with his hand. "It's solid," he discovered. "Kind of clever, like in _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_."

Duncan reached the abandoned base, where Team Rocket had once been. "It doesn't appear to be occupied at this time..." He climbed the fence, seeing a "Restricted Area, Keep Out; Electric Fence" sign dangling with only one side of the sign bolted to the fence. "At least it won't be a problem anymore."

Inside, he pulled out a flashlight, as it was rather dark. He'd use his Typhlosion for this, but it was safely stored away on PC. He searched for a map on the wall. He found a charred plastic wall map on the floor. "Okay, the best place to search for info would be a data center." That was where the servers were stored. If they were in cabinets, then they most likely survived the firefight.

It was down the hall he was in, to the left, down that hall to the right. Sure enough, he found a room with cabinets of servers. And they were still running after three and a half years of dormancy. Presumably, a solar generator was still running, allowing power to the computers.

After leaving the office, Duncan heard a whooshing sound from outside. He spoke into his Pokétch, "Maxie, I think somebody else planned to come here before me."

"Stay where you are. It's probably the infamous Pokémon Hunter, known only by the initial J."

"I'll stay out of their sight, then. Then again, it's not like I've got any valuable Pokémon that this J guy would want."

Duncan proceeded to access a terminal. "Damn it," he said in disappointment. "It needs login."

"Insert the override dongle," instructed Maxie.

Override dongle? "What dongle?"

"That Com-Link app also has a program for this purpose. Insert your Pokétch into the USB port."

Duncan did as told, and entered the command "override DCaliduct". The screen soon entered into a graphical user interface. He clicked around, using the search feature and inputting the keyword "Mewtwo". Sure enough, he found a whole folder of files on the subject. Knowing that it wouldn't be a good time to search it all page to page, he saved it onto his Pokétch. "Okay, now I have all the available information." He now had to somehow get out without J's henchmen finding him.

"Wait! There's somebody else in here..." said the voice of one henchman.

"But none of those Lab Pokémon, I'll bet," said another henchman.

Duncan dashed out of the room, hoping that he could outrun them. It wouldn't be too hard, considering that he was slimmer and quicker than them.

To his surprise, he tripped over an Ariados. In the fear of being poisoned, he dared remain calm and not move, in the hope that it would walk away. Instead, it shot sticky web at him, tying him up as he fell to the floor.

"Duncan, what's going on-" Duncan quickly turned off the Pokétch, and tried to pull the string off of his body, but it held him like glue. The clickingof heels approached him until somebody was to his right. Duncan grunted as he turned his head to see crimson boots and matching bodysuit beneath a dark-grey trench-coat. The person reached down to grab Duncan's wallet and inspect the contents within.

"So, your name is Duncan Louis Caliduct, born June 8, 2192, and you're living in Viridian City," the person said, with a feminine voice.

"Are you that - that Pokémon Hunter J?" said Duncan.

"Don't wear it out."

"What do you want from me?!"

"I'm sure your Pokémon aren't worth anything, but I've got some tip that you've been hanging around with someone called Kamon."

"I sure don't know any Kamon, and I wouldn't give a damn about him anyway," said Duncan bravely.

J grabbed Duncan by the collar and pulled him to his feet. "If we hold you and your sister hostage, maybe that will draw him out." A smile grew on her face, which contrasted with the evil look on her steel-blue eyes, which could be hardly seen from her dark visor. "And to keep you from calling for help..." J pulled out Duncan's PokéNav from his pocket, lay it on the floor, and smashed it with her heel.

Duncan watched in terror as he remembered his PokéGear's destruction by Team Rocket at the Radio Tower. At least she didn't know about his Pokétch's com-link app.

----

As dusk set in, Karl and Janine, equipped with headsets, were dropped off into the forest, near where Hunter J's airship base was traced. Janine knew that it was crucial to blend in with the dark.

Karl's headset beeped. Karl pressed a button on the headset. On the other end was Hadley. "Okay, Red, you and are at the closest we can get to J's base without being detected."

Also on the other end was Kevin, who added, "Don't worry, we're on a secure line, and no one but you can hear from this."

"Good," said Janine. "I don't want J to snoop in on our conversations."

Hadley then briefed Karl, "Red, your mission here is to try to eavesdrop into what Hunter J's assignment is. If she had already sold those Pokémon to her client, then we need to find out who that client is."

"Yeah," deadpanned Karl. "I think I've got it now. I bet J wants to brutally kill me."

"Then be extremely careful!" warned Kevin. "I love you, Red."

"Thanks, Blue."


	10. The Kamon Ultimatum

A truck approached Karl and Janine. Carefully hiding from the lights, they hopped onto the back of the truck, in the hope that they could secretly board the airship. The problem, however, was to avoid being detected throughout.

To their surprise, they found that the truck was not headed deeper into Viridian Forest, but into the city. "What the hell?" asked Karl.

"This doesn't look good..." Janine could smell trouble brewing, as J seemed to be coming after someone.

----

Crystal was resting in her bed. The night sky gleamed with shining stars. The doors were locked, and she had the positive feeling that she was being watched by Axel. This was all overshadowed, however, by the startling fact that the boy she loved so much was bioengineered, and that Pokémon Hunter J was after him (for all she knew, Duncan may have been captured as well). Crystal tightly held on to her bedsheets, praying, "Please, God, don't let me be kidnapped by a sadistic bounty hunter."

Meanwhile, J had picked the lock, trying to make sure not to make any noise, or else Crystal or her parents would hear. Using her heat-seeking shades, she tried to detect if Crystal was hiding around here. "Hmm, nope, she's not around here. There don't appear to be any Pokémon, either." She then headed into the hallway.

J jiggled the doorknob, only to find it locked. Crystal had also jammed gum into the lock, making lock-picking impossible as well. "Well, since I can't open the door, I'll have to try force. Go, Salamance, and break this door down!"

Axel readied himself for the impending invasion.

Crystal, who had hidden in the closet, tied a tie on the handles to keep the closet from being opened, as a loud slam came from outside as the door fell to the floor.

Axel pounced at J, but the bounty hunter dodged the tackle and the Persian slammed into Salamence. Salamence tried to swat Axel away with its tail, but the Persian avoided the attack, and the dragon slammed into Crystal's dresser drawer.

J used her heat-seeker to detect Crystal in the closet, It was also jammed shut. "Thought you could hide from me?"

Hiding was now out of the question, so Crystal decided that the only way she would get out is to fight, but Axel was busy fighting Salamence. "I dare you to try to grab me," she said as she removed the tie from the knobs and readied her fists.

J opened the closet, and grabbed Crystal by the shirt. Crystal resisted and punched J in the gut. "Oh, no, I'm not about to be captured again like with Team Rocket." While J was stunned from the impact of the punch, Salamence breathed a wave of fire at Axel, burning the Persian and setting the room on fire! Crystal reached for her PokéNav to call the police, running out of the house as she talked. "Hello, police? I'm about to be kidnapped by Pokémon Hunter J, and my house is on fire!"

A light wave of lightning coursed through her body. It wasn't particularly painful, but she ended up becoming paralyzed. The PokéNav, however, could not survive the shock, and was destroyed.

"Good Thunder Wave, Salamence." J then made a grab for Crystal.

"Don't, you're hurting me," moaned Crystal weakly.

"Just shut up," snapped J. "In some moments in life, there are no words."

Karl and Janine had scrambled underneath the truck, holding on for dear life. They could not believe that was happening.

In a panic, Karl said, "That girl being captured sounds a lot like my cousin Crystal..." Oh, no! J smited him by taking his relatives captive, and setting their house on fire! "We'd better save her..."

"And blow our cover?" Janine rejected. "First, we hitch a ride. Then, you can save your cousin."

"I hope we're as good as the police... Uh-oh!" exclaimed Karl. "The truck have started to move."

The truck drove into the forest. Inside J interrogated Crystal.

"Where is Kamon?" she demanded. "Tell me now."

"No. I've sworn an oath not to tell."

J slapped Crystal across the face. "Now!"

"Never!" J pounded Crystal's gut.

"Okay! He's in a house in this forest," said Crystal tearfully, badly bruised.

After making a stop in the forest, the truck headed into an airship garage. J exited with a handcuffed Crystal.

Karl started to question how large the base actually was, and its carrying capacity. It has a garage, maybe workers' quarters, J's quarters, and perhaps even a cockpit. That airship sure was a glutton of a power hog!

----

Kamon heard an object smack into the front door. Upon opening it, he saw a brick with a note taped to it. He headed back inside. "Guys, I think we've had our cover blown," he said in fear. "Read this note:

_We have found you, Kamon. We have your accomplices Duncan and Crystal. Please surrender to us, and they will go free. If you do not comply, they will be terminated._

Kamon felt pity pour into himself. "It looks like I have to turn myself in to save my friends."

"No, Kamon," rejected Maxie. "You're being lured into a trap. It's not them, it's you that they want."

Kamon grew into a rage. "What am I supposed to do, leave them there? Are you crazy?!" he snapped. "J will kill them if I don't surrender myself!"

"You don't know that for sure," said Giovanni. "J is clearly bluffing, since Duncan and Crystal need to be alive to continue being effective." This was an old trick in the book – J was using Duncan and Crystal as bait to draw him out. "Hopefully, J will call off this mission and find something more profitable while you stay here."

"And then kill my friends," said Kamon. "They won't wait – J or Duncan and Crystal."

Kamon grabbed his coat and ran out into the forest and into the eve of a snowstorm.

----

After a whole uneventful day, Tabitha wondered what these people were planning to do with him. All he knew was that he had been given free room and board at a prestigious hotel in Saffron City, which even had a casino. He'd gamble, but he knew there was no point. Why would he waste his money on something he knew he would not win? Ah, well. At least there were the DVD rentals and dining hall.

Somebody knocked on the door, so Tabitha headed over to answer it. It was a professional businessman; obviously a legitimate one. "Ventosia?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Someone you know wants to speak with you down at the casino."

"Well, I'll get ready then." Who knew what was in store for him? An old friend of his? Maxie? Whomever paid for his tuition? To this day, he'd been wondering that for a while. Maybe he will finally get his answer.

Walking down the halls of the hotel, he made his way through the lobby, and out into the limo. "Wooo, boy! A snowstorm's brewing up!" After a drive into Celadon City, he was led into the newly remodeled Game Corner. Only it wasn't just any old Game Corner – it was a full-fledged casino!

"I know this place – Team Rocket ran it once."

"Yeah," said the businessman. "That kimono-wearing Erika girl bought the place after that whole fiasco up in the canyon."

Walking past chiming slot machines, blackjack dealers, and wealthy couples, he was put into a seat with a familiar person... "You look familiar..."

"Of course I do. Remember me?" the woman asked, raising her head. "Your old friend Courtney. You sure became a lot taller since I last saw you."

Tabitha took that as sarcasm, as he felt the same as before. "So, how about a date together?" It had jumped out of his mouth, as he was in shock. This woman, who was nothing more than a starving artist before, was now a high-class socialite.

"Tabitha, I know you've been surprised to see me after a year and a half, but this is no time to party," deadpanned Courtney. "This is serious. You've been thrown into the hands of Hunter J, who, by the way, has no business stealing our business!"

Tabitha smiled. Getting right down to business, eh? This time, he didn't have any affiliation with the involved crime group, but was now a civilian, though he would still be drawn into crime anyway.

"We have a common interest for this holiday season," said Courtney.

"What's that?" asked Tabitha inquisitively.

"To kill Pokémon Hunter J."

----

Is it true? Has Courtney been permanently changed in the past year?

It looks like Courtney will inadvertently help our heroes.

What fate do Duncan and Crystal have in store?

Will Karl find those lab Pokémon before they're auctioned off?

Find out the answers to those questions next act...

Same Poké-Time! Same Poké-Channel!


	11. The Hunter Becomes The Hunted

_Kill_ Hunter J? "No, Courtney," denied Tabitha. "I don't want any involvement with J, good or bad."

"Don't be too sure," snapped Courtney. "You know it's true."

"All she ever did to me was use as bait to capture Kamon," said Tabitha. "That failed."

"Looks like it's time to extract revenge on J, then. Where do I start?"

"Tomorrow, we get some tools for you."

----

The next morning, Kamon searched around the destroyed home of Duncan and Crystal. Their parents lay dead in their room, having suffocated from monoxide poisoning. Their escape route, the window, had become blocked by the falling debris, making it impossible to go through.

Guess the parents were too dumb to live, thought Kamon. Or they couldn't clear the debris.

Searching the basement, he found their Pokémon pets hiding safely. "Axel! You're all right!" And so were Spike the Togepi and Wyner the Wynaut. They had happened to hide in their little fallout shelter in a tiny room underneath the stairs.

"Duncan and Crystal have gone missing," he told them. "And their parents..." Kamon continued, trying to find something to describe the current status of the parents, "didn't make it."

Axel, remembering his feat with Victreebel in the Radio Tower basement, understood what Kamon meant.

"J could be anywhere by now..." he mused to himself. He then recalled the Pokémon into their PokéBalls, and left the house, somberly returning back to the forest.

"It's no good guys, J got away," he spouted dejectedly out loud.

"Kamon, you're wondering where Hunter J is?" asked Giovanni, who came in. Unlike Maxie, he seemed to be in favor of going after J. "I know of a way for you to find out where J's resting place will be. Try getting Sneasel to use the Foresight move."

"But I don't think he can learn the move."

Maxie then butted in and retorted, "My Sneasel's father was a Furret who knew Foresight. Thus, Sneasel does know the move."

"I'll consult him then," he said as he called out the dark weasel. "I need you to find out where Pokémon Hunter J is heading." Sneasel just looked at him confusingly.

"It might help if you had a picture of J," advised Maxie. "Hold on." He headed into the backroom, then returned with a rolled up poster. Unraveling it, he showed the wanted poster of Hunter J to Sneasel.

The weasel projected an image above his head, and showed images of the airship landing on a summit dwarfing a metropolis, Kamon entering the airship, getting frozen in metal by J's arm cannon, and Duncan and Crystal being chained to a wall. After this, however, Sneasel started flinching like crazy, and passed out, shaking in a seizure fit.

"What happens next?" questioned Kamon fearfully.

"It doesn't look good..." Maxie grumbled. "But if you must, J will be at the summit of Saffron City."

"We won't stop you," Giovanni stated, "but I'd like you to think about what you're doing, and I won't let you go until you're ready." Giovanni handed him a GPS and secret earring headset.

----

After being transported to J's airborne base, Karl and Janine had slept in a nearby air vent for the night. Janine, however, remained partially awake to make sure J's henchmen didn't find them.

Karl's transmitter beeped, and he answered the call.

"Good morning, Red. Are you all right?" asked Hadley via computer in Professor Oak's lab.

"Yeah," answered Karl. "Good thing I've got a bodyguard keeping me safe through the night."

Janine then pulled Karl out from the vent. "Come on, Red, let's get moving!"

Karl stood up, feeling stiff and sore all over. He rubbed himself off and they continued into the hallways.

Meanwhile, in another room, Duncan and Crystal awakened.

Crystal felt her arms raised, and tried to lower them. It didn't work; she and Duncan were chained to the wall by their wrists. "What is going on here?!" she shouted in shock as she tried to pull loose.

Duncan tried to contact Lance through his Pokétch, only to find it missing. Those freaks had taken it. Apparently, they found out about the contact app. "Just tell us what you want!" he yelled out.

_"...just tell us what you want!"_ came a familiar voice. Karl recognized the voices crying for help. He contacted Hadley, and asked her, "Green, looks like we've got cousins Duncan and Crystal in peril."

"Don't worry about them for now," advised Hadley. "If they're yelling for help, J's henchmen will shut them up, and you _don't_ want to be caught by them." Hadley then pondered why Duncan and Crystal would be involved. "What _is _J doing with them, anyhow?"

"No idea," said Karl. "But I've got a damn good feeling about the guy who healed me back in the PRD." That man with long red hair who saved him from being crushed by Drapion... If he's who Duncan and Crystal say he is, then their mission will be more convoluted than they expected. "This is gonna be tougher than I thought."

Back with Hunter J, she had an idea on how to capture Kamon: land at a place where he would most likely go. Only problem was, she didn't know where he would go. For now, they would land just outside Saffron City.

----

"Welcome to the Honchkrow Club, Local 2208," announced "The Big Boss", as was how he introduced himself.

Tabitha asked, "Okay, if you're a group of criminals, doesn't J have as much right as you when stealing Pokémon?"

"No, she does not," snapped Courtney. "She never pays her dues to us." J certainly could have, given the money she receives, but J obviously just doesn't care.

The Big Boss told him in warning, "We don't like people who try to steal business from us."

Tabitha understood what was going on – this was like a Thieves' Guild! He was handed a toolkit, a silencer, nunchuks, and various knives (laced with poison, as the label on the case warned). "What? No Pokémon?"

"It's not an honorable thing to kill another person with your Pokémon," lectures Courtney. Tabitha guffawed as he thought it was some kind of joke. Surely there was no honor among thieves – at least, none among Hunter J's type. He felt very disgusted that he had been given the task to kill a Pokémon Hunter – it was one thing for him to be a thief, but a killer? This was heavy for him, but Courtney seemed more willing to do it.

----

Kamon entered the bus station, and asked the counterman, "When is the next bus to Saffron City?"

"Well, that's a long distance, and it'll take multiple trips."

Kamon searched another pocket in his coat and found his wallet, containing his debit card! "And fare?"

"Well, it's pretty expensive... around fifty dollars."

But Kamon had run to the nearby ATM, withdrawing that exact amount. That gambling really paid off, he told himself. He slammed the money on the counter. "One bus ticket to Fuchsia."

After his ticket was printed, he waited for the bus to come. In the meantime, he headed into an alley, using his headset to try to get to Duncan's Pokétch.

"Duncan, are you there? It's Kamon!"

One minute later, a woman said to someone, "It looks like somebody wants to talk to you."

"Duncan! Crystal! Are you all right?" he shouted in excitement.

"No, Kamon," Crystal said in exasperation. "We've been captured for the third time." First Team Rocket, then Team Magma, and now Hunter J!

"I think I know where you are – Saffron City." He immediately regretted revealing the suspected location, fearing that they will relocate.

"Just hurry it up and get us out of here," pressed Duncan. "Before J turns around."

----

Duncan's Pokétch said "DISCONNECTED".

J stated to Duncan and Crystal, "Don't worry, we're not leaving any time soon."

"What?" ridiculed Duncan in surprise. "You're not going after him?"

"No, in fact, we're not." stated J as-a-matter-of-factly. "_He's_ going to come after us."

Crystal realized something was up – this was a trap for Kamon!

Meanwhile, just outside on one side of the room, Karl and Janine searched around for any clues as to where the Mewtwo plans were. Unless...

"We've got to get Duncan and Crystal."

"Later!"

"No, I'm serious! We're right next to them. Maybe they know something that got them captured." Karl then thought up of a clever ruse to get to his cousins. "Why don't you lure any bad guys out, while I get to my cousins?"

"I think I've got a good idea on how to lure them to me," said Janine seductively. She then grasped a poison needle in her pocket in one hand, and put the other hand to her chest. "Hi there, big guy," cooed Janine as she slightly pulled her shirt down to reveal cleavage to the henchman. "Wanna have a good time?"

"Oh, yeah," begged the henchman as his heart started pounding, "Let's get started... ugh!" Janine thrust the needle into the man's pounding heart. The henchman gurgled and spat up blood until he fell to the ground, dead.

"That's the ninja way for you."

"Jesus... at least he's out of commission for good," said Karl admittedly as he entered the room.

Duncan and Crystal were relieved to find their cousin had arrived.

"What was all that about?" urged Crystal.

"Some ninja came in and killed the guard," joked Karl. "Just keep it down, okay? I've got to find some info on Mewtwo."

"That's what I went to Pewter Canyon for," uttered Duncan. "I've got the info on my Pokétch."

As Karl heard this, he took the watch from the shelf containing Duncan and Crystal's stolen equipment. "Got it!" He then announced to Hadley in his headset. "Green, I've got some good news and some bad news."

"Let's hear the good news," said Hadley quickly.

"I've got the Mewtwo plans."

"I knew you could do it!" congratulated Hadley. "You and Janine did a really good job!"

"The bad news: Duncan had them. And Janine just killed the guard. I'll just give this to her, and tell her to get out of here." He hung up, and found Janine just outside. "Give this Pokétch to Green and Blue. Don't worry about me, just get yourself out!"

As Janine climbed into an air vent, and Karl closed it up, J's henchmen had discovered him.

"Hey you! Hold it right there!"

Drapion had sneaked up behind him and grabbed him. "Not again!"

"I'm amazed that you followed me this far," declared Hunter J, who walked in.

"I thought I'd smelled vermin," insulted Karl.

"All I smell," shot J, "is your fear."

Karl closed his eyes and prepared for his death...

But nothing happened, and Drapion let go, only for J to hold him tight.

"Well? Aren't you going to kill me now?"

"Not right now, but we'll deal with you soon enough," warned J as she chained Karl to the wall with his cousins.

"I guess if we're all going to die, at least we'll die together," whimpered Crystal.

Karl's headset rang, and he tilted his head to his left shoulder to answer it.

"Red, what happened?" asked Hadley.

"J captured me..."

"And Janine?"

"Not her; she got away with the plans, and she'll be back to you soon."

Kevin then answered, "Well, looks like you're in the same predicament as Daisy and I were in."

Karl hoped that Janine would make her way out and back to Pallet Town. "Green, if I don't make it out alive, I just want to tell you that we've had our good times and our bad times," he eulogized. A tear then slid down his face as he looked down in uncertainty of his fate. "I've always been with you from the time Team Rocket got into our lives."


	12. And Becomes The Hunter Again

Tabitha and Courtney exited the hotel on their way to J's base. "Okay, where do we start?"

"We've just gotta find some patsy to get us into J's base." A bus then pulled over, opening the door to the exiting passengers. One of them was oddly familiar... "Like that man."

Kamon was caught off-guard by the duo. "Tabitha and Courtney? What are you doing here?"

"We need some help in pulling a job," explained Tabitha. "Pokémon Hunter J?"

Kamon's heart stopped for a split second. "I know where she is," he said scornfully. "I'm after her too."

Kamon then explained how Tabitha had been used as bait to capture him, which failed. He then talked about how he was genetically engineered by Maxie, how he had been frozen for some time since they last met, and how Hunter J had captured Duncan and Crystal.

"What a bunch of crap. I think you're full of it," ridiculed Courtney. "That's sci-fi stuff. Whatever; you do got your reasons for going after J. Where do ya think she is?"

"Up on a summit just outside of here," described Kamon. "I'll take you there, but it's probably invisible right now."

"I've got an ORV ready in the parking lot," said Courtney.

----

Janine entered Kevin's house. Climbing up the stairs, she presented the flash drive to Hadley and Kevin. "I've got it!" She handed the drive to Hadley.

"Perfect," beamed Hadley. "Now it's time to find out more about this Mewtwo."

Hadley inserted the drive into the USB port of her computer, then opened the folder. Daunted by the large amount of files, she stammered, "I think this- this is gonna take a- while to scan through."

"Try searching for its location. Say, some kind of lab?"

"Don't you even try it, brats!" shouted "Professor Oak".

"You're not our grandfather; you're an imposter!" shouted Daisy.

"Yes! And I've been sent here to fill in for your real Professor, who's been summoned to work on Mewtwo!"

Hadley grew into a rage. There was definitely some kind of conspiracy going on, but "Oak" barked, "Hand over that drive!"

"Never!" Hadley held the drive to her chest.

"I've got a gun in my pocket," warned Not-Oak. "If you don't give that drive, I'll shoot you to get it!"

"If that's going to happen," Hadley took a deep breath, her body trembling in fear, "then go and get it, weirdo." She held out the drive, but before Not-Oak could grab it, tossed it out the window. "Start searching."

Not-Oak chuckled. "You sure got guts, girl. You really think I'd gun you down? You want to know who I really am? I am Pichdef Darkao!" That name struck fear in the kids. "I knew you'd remember the name – my brother's dead thanks to you."

"That's why you did nothing to save me and Daisy from J..." Kevin grumbled. "They're working together." Or, at least, working separately under the same organization.

Hadley then gathered up the courage and offered, "I'll grab the files back for you."

"That's a good girl," praised Darkao. "Felt a little guilty, haven't you?"

Hadley was led out the door. Searching around for the flash drive, she then found it in the hedge. "Hope this hasn't been damaged..." Grabbing it, she then called out her Pidgeot. "Let's find J's lair, Birdo!"

"No!!!" Darkao shouted in defeat. That girl had fooled him. No matter, J would make quick work of her and her brother.

All this time, Janine had hidden herself in the closet. So the Impostor Oak was in fact Mandroph Darkao's brother with a vengeance. Coming out of the closet, she exited the window, but not before telling Kevin and Daisy, "Just hang in there. He'll probably take you to your grandfather's location."

"Yeah," said Daisy gracefully. "But too bad we'll be prisoners with him."

----

Kamon, Tabitha, and Courtney drove up the summit in a Jeep. There was nothing up there.

Axel, who had accompanied Kamon in a PokéBall, was let out, his mouth foaming as he breathed heavily, and his eyes bloodshot.

"Uh, Kamon, I think there's something wrong with your Persian," noted Tabitha. "I think he's got rabies or something."

As Kamon was about to inspect, however, Axel ran towards him and bit him on the hand. "Ow!" he shrieked. "Ooh… that doesn't look good. We'd better give you an antidote."

"What the hell, Kamon?" badgered Courtney. Suddenly, the ship materialized. "So, it's got a cloaking device."

"I'm going in there," said Kamon. "At least I'll recover from this bite," he continued as he saw spots of blood on his right hand. Surely J would kill Duncan and Crystal on sight of Tabitha and Courtney, but they wanted to kill J as much as he did. For Courtney, this was the perfect plan – have Kamon kill J instead, and she would take the credit.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit, J was briefed on the situation. "He's here! We'll capture him immediately!" exclaimed a henchman.

"Hold it!" ordered J. "I'll deal with him personally."

Meanwhile, Kamon navigated his way through the base. How curious, there appeared to be no one to stop him. He could sense Duncan and Crystal being here, and searched around, until he finally made it to a specific door, where his senses vibrated rapidly. As he reached for the door...

...nothing happened as he opened it. That was a relief. He was worried that he was being lured into a trap. He was also relieved to see Duncan and Crystal, along with that same kid he met in the PRD.

"Karl, it's Kamon!" shouted Duncan in excitement.

"Wait!" halted Karl. "This is a trap to capture you! Turn back, we'll be fine!"

But Kamon did not listen to Karl's pleas, as he reached to Crystal, trying to break off her shackles. With his adrenaline rushing through his muscles, he managed to pull Crystal free. He then proceeded to do the same for Duncan and Karl, and turned around to see Hunter J, with arm cannon pointed straight at him.

"Don't move," J nonchalantly ordered Kamon.

"Go! Go! Go!" shouted Kamon to the Caliduct kids, who then made a run for the exit. Turning around to J, he asked, "Just now? You missed the welcome party."

"I didn't throw one," answered J. "I set this up to lure you here!" J then powered up the arm cannon, which Kamon quickly dodged, and ran out. "Stop right there!"

Suddenly, Kamon started to feel dizzy and nauseous as he dropped to the floor. He looked at his right hand, and saw that the veins on it started to become more visible.

J aimed her arm cannon at the now-off-guard Kamon, and made her target dead-on, as Kamon felt his body become rock-hard, eventually freezing in place once again. His headset rang.

_"Kamon, do you copy?" a_sked Maxie._ "Kamon? KAMON!!!!" _The sounds slowly faded away.

----

Kamon regained consciousness as a henchman with a camera unfroze his head. "Ugh… my hand is… frozen in place!"

"Time to add you to the collection. Say cheese."

"What?" The camera's bulb flashed. Too bad he couldn't rub his eyes. "What is going on here? I want to speak to J and find out what this is all about!"

"If you insist." The henchman walked out of the room.

Kamon examined his surroundings. To his shock, Axel had been captured as well. As he looked down, he saw the switch that was used to set the level in which he would be frozen. "I've got to get my hands on that switch… And I'm sure Axel's no better off encased in that metal shell." Axel's frozen state had reminded him of the Persian surveillance statues from Team Rocket's Mahogany hideout. A few minutes later, J came in.

"What's the problem here?"

"Well, what do you think? You captured me. Who sent you to do that?" Kamon rapid-fired interrogatively.

J took off her visor, and explained, "I've got business with Nixyzon. I've been ordered to bring you to them."

Nixyzon… Maxie had warned him about them. Now that he had been captured, they may very well do some gruesome experiments on him, and even kill him after all that. "Just so you know…" Kamon then tried to use his mind to move the switch down. However, he started to see flashes of light, and groaned in nausea. "I will not submit to Nixyzon! I will save my beloved Crystal."

"Don't worry," J said. "She and the others just left."

Kamon sighed. He hoped that they would find their way back to Maxie and Giovanni, and give the scoop. As he tried to activate his headset, he found it to have broken in the freezing process. "Please freeze me completely; I just want to skip over all this."

"If you wish." J moved the switch up entirely, encasing Kamon's head in metal.


	13. Alas, Poor Duncan! I Was Related To Him

Duncan was grabbed by Drapion. "Help! Get this oversized scorpion off me!"

Drapion jabbed its stinger into Duncan's abdomen. Duncan groaned in pain as the poison entered his bloodstream. Drapion dropped him like some sort of rag-doll, slamming him into the wall.

Karl and Crystal lifted him up, and dashed out of the airship.

"What's going on here?" asked Courtney in the confusion. "Where's Kamon?"

"I thi-think J-J got him," stammered Duncan in pain. "We can't do anything about it now. We've got to get out of here!"

Before exiting, Crystal took a look at the jeep that would transport her back to civilization, then looked at the airship that held Kamon. After being the damsel in distress over all of what happened these past few years, she declared, "No! I'm not leaving Kamon in there. I'm going back in."

"Too late, Crystal!" snapped Karl. "We gotta go now."

"Come on, I'm dying here; let's just go," groaned Duncan.

The exit to the airship started to close, and Crystal waved good-bye to her family. "See you on the other side, and if I'm captured, just leave me be. If I'm going to die, than I die." She would try to rescue Kamon, just as he rescued her from Team Rocket and Team Magma, or die trying. She'd be happy with either outcome.

Outside, a Pidgeot soared down into the ground, and Hadley jumped down and recalled it. "Oh, no! I'm too late!" she shouted as the ship rose up into the sky. "J probably did him in already. Curse my lateness!"

Soon, a jeep drove toward her. Waving her arms out, she shouted, "Wait! Hold it! Stop! I need a ride!" She ran to the left back door, and knocked. The car unlocked, and she opened the door and hopped in.

"You made it," said Karl. "But Duncan's dying, and Crystal turned back."

"I hope she's okay..."

Crystal then searched around the area. Same old chrome walls and floor. Now that she had been in here for so long, she felt completely somber at how unappealing and dull the place was. A bit of paintings, sculptures or posters would have helped make it look appealing.

Finding Kamon, she reached for the dial to unfreeze him, only to be grabbed by Drapion!

"I'm getting quite tired of you getting in my way!" shouted J. "I should personally punish a creep like you."

"I... will... not... give in!" Crystal struggled as she forced her right foot on the dial. She managed to partially release Kamon's head. "I... got you... out a bit!"

"You came back for me?" Kamon was thrilled to see that Crystal turned back to save him. "Hang in there and get me out!"

Crystal then realized something. If someone was after him, she wanted to find out exactly who. "Not just yet. I wanna know what this is all about. J, tell this beast to release me."

"Release her." Drapion did as its master ordered.

"You know what? I'm tired of being captured and having to be rescued. And I think maybe I should talk with who wants Kamon." She was surprised that she decided to deliberately get herself captured this time, all to get information on the whole ruckus first-hand.

Coming up from behind her, a henchman knocked Crystal hard in the head, causing her to quickly lose consciousness.

"Where to now?" asked Courtney. They had reached Viridian Forest.

"There's a house in the woods," mused Duncan. "An old friend lives there." He felt excruciating pain as the poison circulated his veins.

"A friend? Who?" inquired Hadley.

"Just get us all in... and he'll tell you..."

After some searching, they arrived at the fairly large house in the forest. "This is the place?" asked Karl.

"That... that's it," Duncan slugged. Karl and Hadley then dragged his slump into the house.

"Ugh... I was careless. I guess I really am the idiot of the family." He coughed up some blood. "I guess... I never figured that I would go down like this."

"We need medical assistance!" ordered Hadley. "He won't hold up much longer."

"It's... too late for that..." Duncan admitted defeat.

Maxie mused, "I told Kamon to stay put. Now they've got him, and he's now lost those he held dear."

"Pretty selfish, if you ask me," added Karl.

"We've had our times together… Goodbye, family. I'll see you again eventually in the afterlife..." The pain grew to the point of agony, and he knew that he would soon cease to exist. Duncan then stared at Karl and Hadley one last time until everything went black and all functions shut down for good.

Karl started sobbing. "No... _NO! Damn _you, J! I should have just listened to her for once."

"It wouldn't have changed the fact that Duncan and Crystal would be bait for Kamon," answered Maxie succinctly. "Either way, you'd be screwed over. By the way, Hadley, where were Daisy and Kevin taken?" inquired Maxie.

"Cerulean Cave," answered Hadley breakingly. "But that place is filled with powerful Pokémon, so it's extremely dangerous to enter that cave."

"I'm getting out while I still can," griped Karl as he wiped a tear from his cheek. "I want to live."

"Not so fast, Karl," blurted Giovanni, who came into the room. "It's too late to turn back now."

"Giovanni. Long time no see," said Hadley. They hadn't seen the Team Rocket leader since he had originally shut down Team Rocket. "Where were you these last three years?"

"After shutting down Team Rocket, I went into hiding. I knew that if Nixyzon found out my location afterwards, they would kill me and Maxie." Giovanni sighed. "My love, Laura... those goons took her life." He didn't seem inclined to speak any further, and neither was Karl.

"Cerulean Cave... It's the perfect place for Mewtwo," mused Maxie. "It can be hidden underneath those extreme dangers."

Duncan's death would not be in vain, Karl decided. It was time to seek vengeance and get to Cerulean Cave. There, they would destroy Mewtwo and bring eternal justice.

Crystal was pushed out of the air base by some henchmen. Examining her surroundings, she found herself in a dark cave illuminated by some fungus on the wall. What she found unusual, however, was the building just behind her. "Who builds a laboratory in some sort of cave?"

Daisy and Kevin were pushed out of a helicopter by Pichdef Darkao.

"Who was that man who captured you?"

"Pichdef Darkao," bluntly answered Daisy.

"Also known as Impostor Professor Oak," added Kevin snarkily.

"Such weird names..." mused Crystal.

They were dragged into an office somewhere as Kamon's petrified body was taken elsewhere.

"I've been getting tired of meddlers like you getting in our way to advance civilization," said a woman's voice.

"Who are you?" asked Daisy.

"Well, I think you'll be surprised to know that answer." The chair turned around to reveal a middle-aged woman with auburn hair and blue eyes – almost a middle-aged Daisy.

"Kevin. Daisy. I haven't seen you two for thirteen years."

"You look a little familiar..." Kevin had the nagging feeling that he had met this woman somewhere before. Indeed, he had some sort of bonding with her. "Do I know you somewhere?"

"You don't remember? It's me. I'm your long-lost mother."


	14. Don't Tell Crystal Her Brother's Dead

Karl, Hadley, Tabitha, and Courtney drove through Cerulean City and through the Nugget Bridge, as snow fell from the sky and accumulated on the ground.

"We can't get into Cerulean Cave," said Hadley. "It's been condemned by the Pokémon League because of the extremely dangerous Pokémon that live in there."

"That's strange... there's nobody and no roadblocks guarding the place!" Courtney exclaimed in surprise. "Usually, the place is crazy barricaded." She turned to the right to see the roadblocks neatly put away. It seemed as if they had been expected to enter the cave.

"Good thing this is an off-road vehicle," sighed Tabitha. "We can go in the cave, but we don't dare leave the car – the Pokémon will kill us!"

"Say, Tab," blurted Hadley, "Why do you have a female name?"

"No idea why – but my middle name is Harlan, so call me that if you'd like."

Karl sighed in dejection. They may not escape that cave alive.

Crystal and Kamon were locked in a secure room together.

After a reunion kiss together, "We're finally together for good. I'll never leave you again," said Crystal gratefully. "But I don't think Duncan survived his poisoning by Drapion..."

"You could have saved him, but you decided to just come back for me." Kamon groaned in pain. He was shivering with cold but sweating profusely.

"What's wrong? Are you all right?"

"No... I'm starting to think that the Missingno virus is going through my body. I think this will mean death for me. And I realize that by kissing you, I just passed it on!"

"At least we'll die together..." Crystal started to feel really dizzy and nauseous. "Then again, maybe not..." She began to lose consciousness. "I made a mistake..."

Kamon pounded on the door. "Guys! Crystal needs help badly!"

"My name... is Tesla Ferchip Oak," announced Daisy and Kevin's long-lost mother.

"What had happened to you all these years?" asked Daisy.

"I was a friend of Giovanni's and Maxie's. I wanted to take Giovanni's role as Maxie's apprentice in the creation of the super-Pokémon project."

"Who's Maxie?" asked Kevin.

"He's an old friend of mine. He left for Hoenn some time ago, but he's come back, and even as we speak, he's sending your neighbors over here to Cerulean Cave. They will certainly witness Mewtwo's unleashing into the world!"

"No, they won't!" shouted Kevin. "Not if I can... help it?" He searched for his Pokémon, but found his belt empty. "Where are my Pokémon?"

"They're in the lab with Mewtwo. If you want them, you just need to ask."

"Would you please give us back our Pokémon?" asked Daisy.

"Absolutely," said Tesla. "Just remember – they may not be the way you last saw them."

Crystal awoke, remembering that she had lost consciousness possibly as the result of contracting the Missingno virus. She was starting to shiver with cold, but was sweating profusely and becoming dizzy with pain. "What's happening to me? Why am I so sick?" she whispered, not having the strength to shout.

"It appears she's infected with the Missingno virus," said one scientist. "Crystal may not last long. We can't say for sure with Kamon, considering his already-mutated DNA, but Crystal's DNA had been untouched until now."

A flash of light flooded Crystal as she developed a headache. She then felt adrenaline rushing through her muscles as she pulled her bonds loose and pulled her clothes off until she was down to her underwear. The feeling of fire burned through her body as her vision whited out.

"Look out! She's loose!" the lab guys shouted as Crystal broke loose and aggressively attacked them.

Missingno had taken over Crystal, and was now using her to channel its deeds.

Daisy and Kevin were given all of the Pokémon that had been stolen before.

"All right! We got our Pokémon back," shouted Kevin in relief. "Now we're ready to get out of here..."

"It might be a little early for that," interrupted Daisy. She pointed at a large tank filled with orange fluid and a cat-like creature, with wires connected to it for scanning of its body functions.

"So, is this Mewtwo?" inquired Kevin. He searched through notes pinned to the wall. The notes were heavily faded, but there were some snippets that were still readable:

_July 5, _(the year had faded out over time)

_ Faraway Island. A new Pokémon was discovered deep in the jungle._

_ July 10_

_ We christened the newly discovered Pokémon Mew._

_ February 6, 2208_

_ Mew gave birth. We named the newborn Mewtwo._

_ September 1, 2208_

_ Mewtwo is getting too powerful. Its potentially vicious tendencies could spell doom for us, and possibly the entire world, if it is not terminated soon._

Also on the wall was a photograph of an ancient engraving of Mew, and another photo of the new species Pokémon itself.

Kamon then walked into the room, being fixated on Mewtwo. He seemed drawn to the Pokémon, and could not turn away. "Mewtwo?"

_"Kamon?" _channeled Mewtwo. _"You made it here."_

"Yes. I did. You've been waiting for me, haven't you?"

_"It seems like we were destined to be together. We are both powerful beings brought upon this world by man."_

"Unlike you, I thrived in the outside world. I've learned happiness and sadness, the importance of friends, and the sense of danger and adventure."

_"I could only hope to achieve that sort of thing. Unlike you, I am not human. I am a Pokémon. But not like others. I was made by humans."_

"But so are some others, like Porygon," answered Kamon thoughtfully. "I'm sure that has some basis in your creation."

_ "I suppose. I sense that friends of yours have entered the cave, and I believe they have come to destroy me."_

"What?" shouted Kamon. "We can't let that happen! I've got to stop this."

"I think Crystal might stop them before you..." butted in Kevin.

"Besides, I think it's for our good that Mewtwo be destroyed," chirped Daisy. "The experts said so."

What a dilemma to be in. What should Kamon do? Release Mewtwo from captivity and live with it, or destroy it and end it there, preventing any potential scientific advances?

"Wait! Stop the car!" shouted Karl. "I see Crystal over there." He exited and ran to her.

"You found me, Karl..." mused Crystal, her back facing him.

"You're almost naked," said a surprised Karl as he examined her body. "Are you all right, cuz?"

"Oh, I'm just fine..." She spun to face Karl. "AND NOW I'M ALL BETTER!" she bellowed, her voice becoming distorted, her eyes now flashing gold and her hair now fire-red. "SPEAK NOT TO THE GIRL YOU CALLED CRYSTAL! I AM MISSINGNO!"

"Kris, you've got a cold or something? Because your voice is kind of coarse..." Crystal then punched Karl in the abdomen, tossing him into the windshield, shattering it. He groaned in pain as he ached all over, dazed. Nobody could really be that strong, could they?

"HA HA HA. HA HA HA," laughed Crystal robotically.

"Somebody call an exorcist!" yelled Hadley.

"And a doctor," mused Courtney.

Karl regained his senses. "Missingno... this is about as bad as Mewtwo! Karl knew now. The Missingno virus has just passed over to Crystal. Didn't Bill send an email out warning of the virus? Now that it had reached Crystal, it was only a matter of time before she died from it – unless it made her some kind of immortal being.


	15. Shattered Crystal

Karl and Hadley searched through the storage facility for anything that might prove useful against Mewtwo.

"Hey, now, this looks interesting..." An unusual PokéBall caught her eye. "Is this... the prototype Master Ball?"

"Master Ball?" Karl overheard Hadley, and barged in to examine the PokéBall. "Yep, that's it!" The ball's upper hemisphere was painted purple with two dark-purple embossed spots on it, and a white "M" was printed just above the button. "You know, I completely forgot about this. Didn't Team Rocket steal it from Silph Company a long time ago?"

Karl and Hadley both sighed in satisfaction. That finally tied up this loose end – the fate of the Master Ball. This ball could capture any Pokémon without fail. It was originally planned to be released to Pokémarts everywhere, until Team Rocket's interference led to it only being released to Pokémon Professors.

"I guess that settles it," declared Karl. "Let's catch that big freakin' Mewtwo!"

"That's totally dangerous! It could kill you just by looking at you!"

"Well, then, we gotta be quick and nimble..."

"Stop! I'm putting an end to your honorless theft for good!" shouted Courtney as she pointed a gun at Hunter J.

"A gun?" questioned J. "Why not use your Pokémon?"

"It's wrong to hurt other people with your Pokémon, and that's exactly what happened with Duncan – he died from the poisoning," broke Courtney.

Courtney fired three bullets into J's chest. J slammed into the wall, then regained her footing and dashed out of sight. "Ha-ha! You'll never catch me!"

"You got her... but she's not dead!" shouted Tabitha in frustration. He couldn't believe that J could just shake it off. "How does that even work?"

"She's obviously wearing body armor under her coat," Courtney answered. "I've got to aim for her head next time. Or her legs..."

"Her legs?"

"I clip one of her arteries, she'll bleed to death quickly-"

"Please!" he butted in. "Don't describe it any further!"

A squeamish man with a girl's name. Courtney was surprised that he was even still attracted to women.

Running for her life, J found Crystal, who had become totally aggressive.

Shouting out in a distorted voice, Crystal bellowed, "You hunter! You've been led into a trap set by me, Missingno!"

"Salamence, get her out of my way!" J called out Salamence, who growled loudly to the possessed Crystal.

The dragon salamander spewed from its mouth a beam of powerful energy at Crystal. The force of the Hyper Beam was enough to knock Missingno out of Crystal's body, although it did Crystal herself a great deal of harm.

J had now come face to face with the true form of Missingno, which floated around her. It was a strange backwards-L-shaped block of glitched pixels. J had the sinking feeling that... _Whoosh!_

J became propelled throughout the base, into the cavern section, and out through the cave entrance, and splashed gloriously into the icy river.

"Ohhh... what happened to me? And why am I almost naked?" Crystal, back in the lab, felt dizzy as she stumbled her way around.

Crystal stumbled into the lab, and saw Mewtwo in its gestation chamber. The rage started to dissipate from her, and she began to feel calm and warm. Of course, her body was starting to malfunction, as her insides seemed to explode inside her.

"Hi, Mewtwo," croaked Crystal, now seeing the elusive Pokémon clone that Kamon had talked about.

"Crystal Caliduct... Missingno and Hunter J have gotten to you, have they not?"

"Yep... and I think now I've died trying to save Kamon."

"Kamon never needed to be saved," Mewtwo said. "He was fated to come here, and you carelessly risked your life."

"Well, at least now I know... take... good... care... of... him..." were Crystal's final words before her heart exploded inside her, and she ceased to live anymore.

Mewtwo, upon witnessing the death of Crystal, first started to shed a tear, then vented with rage. "If humans cannot live together in harmony, then I shall wipe them out and replace this land with a land of only Pokémon!" he declared.

He built up all the strength that he could gather, then smashed the ceiling wide open, bringing destruction throughout the entire cave base.

Darkao staggered through the cave, trying to find the exit. A tremor rumbled through the cave, causing him to tumble to the ground. A giant, sharp, pointed stalactite soon fell from the ceiling. Before he could regain his footing, the stalactite descended sharply to the ground... and into Darkao's chest.

"What a way to go... un-freaking-believable," were his final words before he ceased to live anymore, his heart totally obliterated.

The real Professor Oak stared down at his deceased impostor, and surmised, "Well, I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree – you suffered the same fate as your brother years ago."

"Professor Oak?" cried out a familiar voice. It was Hadley! And with her were Karl, Kevin, and Daisy, and two strangers who

"I was wondering when we'd get to you! I've got something cool," Karl began.

"We have our Pokémon back," Kevin added.

"No time for all of that! We gotta get out of here!" Hadley interrupted.

And so they headed back to the car, and drove out of the cave at full speed, until finally making it outside.

High up in the sky, Mewtwo, with Kamon in tow, flew from Cerulean to Mount Silver, a high-rise mountain bordering Kanto and Johto. The mountain was so tall that it was quite snowy at the top, even in the summer.


End file.
